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SERIOUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
Between 1 and 2 o'clock on Saturday morning serious accident happened on the London and North-Western Railway near Penrith, by which the traffic on the main line between England and Scotland was blocked for seven or-eight hours, an engine-driver was much injured, the lives of several passengers were jeopardized, and there was great destruction of railway plant. A little before the time named, as a Liverpool express goods train was approaching Penrith from the south, a wagon coupling broke.The train consisted of 22 wagons and the breakage occurred at the second vehicle. From Shap Summit to Penrith there is a steady fall in the gradient, and the through trains travel at a great speed. At the Eden Valley Junction, Clifton, the train passed he signal-box in proper order, but at Eamont Junction, exactly at the division of Cumberland and Westmorland, where a mineral line runs to Red Hills, the signalman saw that, either through the breaking of couplings or from some other cause the train had become divided. The engine and two wagons were running in front, followed at an interval by the other wagons. He at once sent the special signal used for such emergencies to the Keswick Junction box. By that time the driver, Inkerman Cartright, of Carlisle, had got past, but he appears to have noticed the red flash of the lamp and kept ahead of the separated portion, as provided in the regulations. The engine and two wagons drew away in advance of the rest of the train but the line is on an incline at this place, and by the time the front portion had passed through Penrith Station the loose wagons behind had gained so much velocity that they dashed into the engine and its accompanying wagons with great force and threw four vehicles off the rails. At this moment the Scotch express, which leaves Carlisle for Euston at 1 o'clock was due. This train, which is one of the fastest of the day, stopping only at Crewe between Carlisle and Euston, had started on its journey in due course, its length being equal to eight and a half vehicles. It had entered the section at Plumpton several minutes before with "all clear," and the Keswick Junction signalman, when the collision occurred between the separated portions of the goods train, recognized that the express was in grave danger. As the driver, George Bates, of Crewe, on approaching Penrith found the signals all right for him to proceed, he kept his train running, but on rounding a sharp curve he dashed into the wreck of the goods train. An attempt had been made to stop the express before it passed the signal-box, but the effort was just too late. The signal flew up just as the train was passing the signal-box, Bates saw it, and he was beginning to apply the brakes when he ran into the wreckage. All the carriages of his train were thrown off the line but, strange to say, none of the passengers sustained any injury. Indeed, some of them slept through the collision. Bates was, however, severely burnt by flames from the firebox, and had to be removed to the hospital at Penrith. The passengers numbered 17, and included Lord Brackley, Bridgwater- house, London; Captain Carfrae, Redhill, Surrey, Dr. - Beeson ,West Norwood, Mr. Falconer, Chairman of the Mersey Railway, Liverpool ; Mr. F.Wigley, Moseley, Birmingham ; Mr. C. Marshall, Edinburgh ; and several soldiers. Lord Brackley, Mr. Falconer, and others handed to the stationmaster (Mr.I.Phizackerley) substantial sums to be given to the injured driver, for whose conduct they expressed the greatest admiration. The destruction of railway plant was great and the wreckage lay in a great pile across both lines. A breakdown gang, which gradually increased to 100 men, was soon on the spot under the command of Mr. Price, divisional superintendent, but both lines were blocked for seven hours; and it was some hours later before the traffic resumed its normal course. In an interview yesterday Bates, the injured driver, said that his escape was a miracle. He saw the signal "danger " when close to it, and shut off steam and applied the brakes. In an instant, however, his engine was leaping in the air over the trucks. How the engine came to alight true on the metals was a marvel to him. He never lost consciousness and remembered a great burst of flame from the fire-box, after which he found himself lying under the overturned tender, with a part of the roof of the wrecked fish van above him. Though badly burnt he, after getting on to the platform, twice went to look for his fireman, who was among the wreckage. It appears that although John Roberts, the fireman, stated at Penrith that he was uninjured, he had to be admitted to the Crewe Hospital suffering from burns on the face and hands, and with the right hip injured. Traffic was resumed on Saturday night, the damaged road having been relaid. Report from the Times newspaper, Monday December 7 th 1903 |